18 May 2005

Beware the Pretty Lawyers

There was a young lady who started practicing a couple years back in my circuit. Whenever she came into court the trick was to get behind her in the line to talk to the prosecutor. She would smile, flirt a little, and get an amazing deal. Then, immediately after she walked away you would step up and look the prosecutor in the eye and ask what he was going to do for your client. It invariably worked (assuming your client wasn't an axe murderer).

2 comments:

My first summer in law school, I interned for the local public defender. As luck would have it, the mentor assigned to me was this gorgeous young PD with legs that never stopped. And she knew how to use them, with skirts that stopped well above the knee and killer high heels.

I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I knew she was using all her assets to the benefit of her client. On the other hand, it didn't seem right. By encouraging others to assess her according to her physical assets, she was perpetuating sexist stereotypes, and frankly, she was a mediocre lawyer (which probably cost her clients when the rubber eventually met the road).

I thought the biggest advantage she had was dealing with her clients. They all treated her like a Goddess, as opposed to dissing like they did the rest of the PDs. She'd go to jail, the place when light up like a Christmas tree, and during conversations with the client they'd sit there with a big dumb grin and wide open eyes while she told them what to do down to the T. And they obeyed.

But I guess she thought it was all best for the client.

The only thing more annoying is a female prosecutor who pulls this crap... Now THAT takes the case. Luckily, most of the female prosecutors I know come off like shrill be-ATCHes.

Disclaimer

In case anyone out there needs this warning: This ain't legal advice. Everything in the blog is off the cuff and no one goes back and reads all the cases and statutes before blogging. The law may have changed; cases misread and misunderstood two years ago can still lead to a clinging misperception. Courts in your county, city, or State probably don't operate as described herein. Feel free to be inspired, but YOU MUST ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH OR HIRE A COMPETENT ATTORNEY TO DO SO because I haven't.